Bad Mommy Reward of the Day. Nathan has a cavity :( :( :(

Today I took Nathan to the pediatric dentist for his second checkup, and I was sort of excited because I missed his first checkup because I couldn’t get out of a meeting for work. The place was amazing, it has sort of an aquatic theme to it with a huge fish tank, bubbles all over the walls, bubble design on carpet, fancy sculptures and paintings… yeah, either the dentists have a money tree growing in the back, or they make a fortune on all of clients. Did I ever say that my orthodontists name was Dr. Bankhead? Yeah, they make the big bucks.

Well, at this place, they call Nathan’s name and he goes back all by himsef until they are done, then I get called back and the dentist speaks to me. Of course, Autumn was Little Miss Can’t Stay Still and was ALL over the waiting room and exploring every nook and cranny. Then, I heard Nathan’s done and I was handed a sheet of paper that said “Good!” really big on it, so I thought, wow, I am such a great Mother, my kid has pearly whites.

I was standing there in shock and all I could think of was… my baby has a cavity and he is not even 4 yet! What in the world am I doing wrong 🙁 🙁 I felt so bad! So, then she went on to explain that she recommends laughing gas because he will probably be nervous throughout the procedure and it will help tremendously. She said its a smaller cavity on his lower molar and you can see a tiny speck. I looked in his mouth when we got home and I can’t see a thing… but, then, have you ever tried to look in an almost 4 year olds mouth? Exactly.

So, it got even better… I go out to the waiting room and I am just so very depressed over the whole situation, and of course, I schedule the appointment and another lady comes up and tells me she needs to go over the fee for the cavity. $154 and that is AFTER my insurance! Boooo! Not a fun morning! But, I can’t complain, the $400 ER visit (remember, the one where we *thought* Autumn ate part of a plastic spoon) was much worse ;o)-

Oh, and it gets better… I am so distraught over the cavity that I scheduled the cavity removal ON Nathan’s birthday! I was thinking, oh, I am off work that week, that will be great… Yep, I get one heck of a Mommy’s Reward today!

Then, I came home and called Jeremi and of course that was a fun call :o)- Because, if you know Jeremi he is even more protective then I am..

Basically Dr. Price told us that the gummy treats are the worst culprit for cavities, along with juice… Since we got our new refrigerator Nathan has been obsessed with the water dispenser so he actually drinks 85% water over anything else now, so I think what we will do is we will not keep juice in the house at all anymore (as in juice boxes). And, no more gummy treats. We do brush Nathan’s teeth in the morning and sometimes at night, but I think we are going to try to limit a lot of the sweets. I will admit, I LOVE sweets, and… don’t hate me… I have never had a cavity. So, maybe I was in sort of denial that my kids would be like me and never have a cavity. Boy was I wrong. 🙁 Thankfully this is just a baby tooth so we can work harder on cutting back on the evil sugars. 🙁

Who would have thought he’d bring so many goodies home with him from the dentist?

I am starting to think Spongebob Squarepants is EVERYWHERE. He got a Spongebob toothbrush and stickers! And a cute little water gun toy.